Coastal Carolina University - Honorary Degree Recipients/Speakers

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Honorary Degree Recipients and Speakers

In the early 1950s, a handful of community leaders were anxious about the socioeconomic perils that could befall a region without ready access to higher education. Those leaders set a goal, went to work, and in September 20, 1954, Coastal Carolina Junior College held its first classes - after hours in Conway High School. In 1963, the institution opened its first building on the new campus, the Edward M. Singleton Building. On July 1, 1993 on the portico of the Singleton Building, South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell signed legislation that established an independent public university - Coastal Carolina University. The University awarded its first honorary degrees in May of 1995.

Honorary degree recipients and their respective degrees are indicated below. The honorary degree recipients who delivered the Commencement address are indicated with an asterisk. University faculty who delivered the Commencement address and were not honorary degree recipients appear in italics.

May 1995	Philip H. Prince, Doctor of Public Service * Catherine H. Lewis, Doctor of Humane Letters Cathcart R. Smith, Doctor of Public Service
May 1996	Jonothan Kozol, Doctor of Public Service * William A. Sessions, Doctor of Humane Letters
May 1997	Joab M. Lesesne, Doctor of Humane Letters * Fred. P. Brinkman, Doctor of Public Service William F. Davis, Doctor of Public Service
May 1998	William R. Ferris, Doctor of Humane Letters * Henry J. Cauthen, Doctor of Public Service Alberta L. Quattlebaum, Doctor of Public Service
May 1999	Rita Colwell, Doctor of Public Service * William H. Davis, Doctor of Humane Letters D. Kent Sharples, Doctor of Public Service
May 2000	Sigmund Abeles, Doctor of Fine Arts * John Hope, Doctor of Public Service
May 2001	Walter Edgar, Doctor of Humane Letters * Genevieve Chandler Peterkin, Doctor of Humane Letters Bill Pinkney, Doctor of Fine Arts
December 2001	James P. Blanton, Doctor of Public Service Var Limpasuvan *
May 2002	W. Horace Carter, Doctor of Humane Letters Judy Woodruff, Doctor of Public Service * Mark S. Kelley, Doctor of Public Service Hugh K. Leatherman Sr., Doctor of Public Service
December 2003	David Drayton, Doctor of Humane Letters Ashby Ward, Doctor of Public Service (posthumously) Robert Squatriglia *
May 2004	Lindsey Graham, Doctor of Public Service * Tom Keegan, Doctor of Public Service Florida Yeldell, Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2005	Henry E. Brown Jr., Doctor of Public Service * John W. Dawsey, Doctor of Public Service Edward M. Singleton, Doctor of Public Service Mickey Spillane, Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2006	William W. Wilkins, Doctor of Public Service * David W. Harwell, Doctor of Public Service Gerrita Postlewait, Doctor of Public Service Jack Thompson, Doctor of Fine Arts
December 2006	William J. Baxley Jr., Doctor of Public Service M. Lois Eargle, Doctor of Public Service Emma Lou Johnson, Doctor of Public Service H. Neyle Wilson, Doctor of Public Service Terri Sinclair *
May 2007	James C. Benton, Doctor of Public Service James F. Hackler Jr., Doctor of Public Service Josephine Humphreys, Doctor of Humane Letters Judith K. Ingle, Doctor of Public Service Ronald R. Ingle *
December 2007	Larry L. Biddle, Doctor of Public Service Daniel T. Cooper, Doctor of Public Service Marilyn J. Fore, Doctor of Public Service Kevin Jenerette *
May 2008	Patrick Cleburne "Clebe" McClary, Doctor of Public Service * Liston Barfield, Doctor of Public Service William Gibson, Doctor of Humane Letters J. Yancey McGill, Doctor of Public Service
December 2008	Dorothy K. Anderson, Doctor of Public Service Harold C. Stowe, Doctor of Public Service Barbie Norvell *
May 2009	Edward Ball, Doctor of Humane Letters * Clay D. Brittain Jr., Doctor of Public Service Hilda M. Carter, Doctor of Public Service Arthur Herbert "Doc" Lachicotte Jr., Doctor of Public Service
December 2009	Jonathan Green, Doctor of Fine Arts *
May 2010	Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Doctor of Public Service *
December 2010	Richard A. Raskopf, Doctor of Humane Letters *
May 2011	CCU President David A. DeCenzo *
September 2011	Harold "Hal" Rogers, Doctor of Public Service
December 2011	Pierre Thuot, Doctor of Public Service *
May 2012	James E. Clyburn, Doctor of Public Service*
December 2012	Vernice Armour, Doctor of Humane Letters * W. Bryan White, Doctor of Public Service
May 2013	Raymond E. Cleary III, Doctor of Public Service Timothy E. Scott, Doctor of Public Service *